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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — On Wednesday, with no measurements or tests going on, interviews were the entire show (Wednesday’s notes here). On Thursday, measurements and bench-press testing began during the day, and athletic testing began in the late afternoon. We’re officially in the thick of the NFL Combine.
Pitt QB Kenny Pickett measures in with what will become the smallest hands in the NFL.
Pickett ducked the Senior Bowl’s hand measurements, an odd decision, explaining that he wanted time to work on hand exercises to stretch his hands out before the combine’s measurements. To be fair, there was precedent for his plan of attack. Arkansas QB Brandon Allen’s hands went from 8 1/2″ to 8 7/8″ between the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine in 2016 following hand-stretching exercises. Alas, Pickett was unable to save himself the ignominy of the designation bolded above. Pickett is what he is. A guy who was a decent P5 starter for four years who suddenly exploded as a fifth-year senior when he had one of the nation’s best receiving corps, including mega-stud WR Jordan Addison. Pickett is accurate, but he has an average arm. His velocity and air yards are capped by genetics, be it grip-strength or arm-strength. Anecdotally, the fact that Pickett fumbled 26 times in college suggests that grip might be an issue, and, if so, his hand measurement would be empirical evidence that he may never be able to completely rectify that, no matter how many hand exercises he does. Then again, Joe Burrow and Jared Goff have 9″ hands….
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